The office of Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) issued the following statement on Monday morning.

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United States Senator Daniel K. Inouye, World War II veteran, Medal of Honor recipient and Hawaii’s senior senator, passed away from respiratory complications at 5:01 p.m. Eastern Standard Time today at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii)

His wife Irene and his son Ken were at his side. Last rites were performed by Senate Chaplain Dr. Barry Black.

He is survived by his wife, Irene Hirano Inouye, his son Daniel Ken Inouye Jr., Ken’s wife Jessica, and granddaughter Maggie and step-daughter Jennifer Hirano. He was preceded in death his first wife, Maggie Awamura.

Sen. Inouye’s family would like to thank the doctors, nurses and staff at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for the extraordinary care he received.

The story of Dan Inouye is the story of modern Hawaii. During his eight decades of public service, Dan Inouye helped build and shape Hawaii.

Sen. Inouye began his career in public service at the age of 17 when he enlisted in the U.S. Army shortly after Imperial Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. He served with E Company of the 442 Regimental Combat Team, a group consisting entirely of Americans of Japanese ancestry. Sen. Inouye lost his arm charging a series of machine gun nests on a hill in San Terenzo, Italy on April 21, 1945. His actions during that battle earned him the Medal of Honor.

Following the war he returned to Hawaii and married Margaret “Maggie” Awamura, and graduated from the University of Hawaii and the George Washington University School of Law.

After receiving his law degree, Dan Inouye returned to Hawaii and worked as a deputy prosecuting attorney for the City and County of Honolulu. He recognized the social and racial inequities of post-war Hawaii, and in 1954 was part of a Democratic revolution that took control of the Territorial Legislature.

Sen. Daniel Inouye talks with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2010.

Following statehood in 1959, Dan Inouye was privileged to serve as Hawaii’s first congressman. He ran in 1962 for the Senate, where he served for nearly nine consecutive terms.

Dan Inouye spent his career building an enduring federal presence in Hawaii to ensure that the state would receive its fair share of federal resources. He worked to expand the military’s presence on all major islands, stabilizing Pearl Harbor, building up the Pacific Missile Range and constructing a headquarters for the United States Pacific Command.

He worked to build critical roads, expanded bus services statewide and secured the federal funds for the Honolulu Rail Transit project. He championed the indigenous rights of Native Hawaiians and the return of Kahoolawe.

He fought for the rights and benefits for veterans. Sen. Inouye has left an indelible mark at the University of Hawaii, including support for major facilities and research assets. He has long supported local agriculture and alternative energy initiatives.

Dan Inouye was always among the first to speak out against injustice, whether interned Japanese Americans, Filipino World War II veterans, Native Americans and Native Hawaiians.

A prominent player on the national stage, Sen. Inouye served as chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Commerce Committee and was the first chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

After developing a reputation as a bipartisan workhorse, who always would put country above party, he was asked by the Senate leadership to chair the special committee investigating the Iran-Contra affair. This was after a successful tenure as a member of the Watergate Committee.

When asked in recent days how he wanted to be remembered, Dan said, very simply, “I represented the people of Hawaii and this nation honestly and to the best of my ability. I think I did OK.”

His last words were “Aloha.”

Sen. Daniel Inouye and his wife, Irene Hirano Inouye, with Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden.

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Young Danny Inouye met Rev. John G. Young, Nuuanu YMCA Director, in 1934 in Honolulu. Senator Daniel Inouye never forgot the guidance and teachings he received as one of Mr. Young’s boys in the YMCA. In September 1985, he wrote a letter of recommendation to then Consul General Watanabe of Japan in the Los Angeles Office. Senator Inouye wrote how Rev. Young influenced his boys to eventually become top polical leaders in Hawaii, become chief executives of successful corporations, teachers and principals too numerous to count, and above all, become good citizens of the community.

Rev. Young went to Kyoto in April 1947 as a missionary and taught at Doshisha University for almost 20 years. He was my dormitory master at Doshisha’s Hawaii Ryo in 1947 and 1948.
We often heard how proud he was of one of his boys from Hawaii, Dan Inouye.

In the Spring of 1986, Rev. John Gilmore Young received the Fourth Order of Sacred Treasure (Kun Yonto Zuihosho) from the Government of Japan, largely due to the recommendation made by Senator Daniel Inouye. The Senator also wrote a letter to Chancellor Ohya of Doshisha in June 2008 congratulating the Chancellor for the book published about Hawaii Ryo.

John S. Matsuda, Hawaii Ryo 1947 – 1948, Gardena, Calif.

P.S. A letter was sent by email to Gwen Muranaka, the English Editor of Rafu Shimpo dated 12/18/12, under the heading “Tribute to Senator Daniel Inouye.”

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